Weft-replenishing mechanism



Dec. 30. 1924. A Y L. F. HOFFMAN lgz WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANI SM Filed Feb. ll. 1924 n', El

rim-- t( f! ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 30, 1924.

Larissa onine s'rarss Prem' I carica.

LOUIE F. HOFFMAN, F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 GROLVIFION & KNOWLES LOGM WOR-KS, OF VJOB-CESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS. f

WEFT-REPLENISHING MECHANISM.

Application led February 11, 1924. Serial No. 691,959.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, Loom F. HOFFMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at lWorcester, in the county of lVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and 'useful IVeft-Replenishing Mechanism, oi `'which the following is a specification. This invention relates to weft' replenishing mechanism for looms and more particularly to means for preventing the rolling of bobbins as they are assembled in stacks in. such mechanism.

@ne` object of my invention is to provide yreplenishing mechanisml with bobbin guideways each having a wall which is positively movable toward and from engaging position with the bobbins in a direction substantially parallel to the axes of thev bobbins. In certain devices which have heretofore been proposed the mechanism for engaging the bobbins has been given a vertical motion at the time of engaging the bobbins which is likely to interterer with the bobbins as they lie superim- 25 posed one upon the other. A large part of fthe resistance to rolling comes from the contact of the yarn of one bobbin with that of the neighboring bobbins and it is with a view to keeping the yarn of the several bobbins in contact that I have provided an end pressure which shall be exerted substantially parallel to the bobbins.

A further object of my invention is to provide a movable wall for the bobbin guideways which shall be guided and also acted upon to movev toward the bobbins at a plurality of points, the mechanism being under control of the replenishing mechanism so as to release the bobbins at the time of transfer.

A still further objectief my invention is tol provide a device which shall notonly be positively moved to bobbin releasing position and also be moved positively to bobbin restraining position to overcome the friction ot' the yarns of the several bobbins against each other, after which the posi tively acting device is removed and yielding means are permitted to hold the bobbins in place.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein one form of my invention is shown,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a replenishing mechanism having' my invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the inner frame of replenishing mechanismV shown in Fig. 1 with my invention applied thereto, and

F ig. 3 is a vertical section taken yon line tl-'3 of Fig. 2.

The type of replenishing mechanism indicated in the drawings comprises an inner frame l() which is supported by means of foot llto any part of the loom, (not shown) and has formed integrally therewith flanges 12 which define guideways for receiving the bobbins `W. A plurality of slides 13 are guided for vertical motion on the frame and are moved by means of one or the other of the lingers 14 carried by slide rod 15. The upper part ofeach slide 13 is `formed with bosses 16 and 17 respectively which are acted upon by the iingers 14 to raise or lower the slides. Slide red is under control oi' the box motion (not shown) and the replenishing mechanism is provided with an outer end plate 18 to guide the tips of the bobbins.` The remaining portions oi the replenishing mechanism may be substantially as shown in Patent No. 1,030,748 to Ryon.

f In carrying out my invention I provide a stiil plate to the ends of which are fastened studs 31 and 32 respectively, these studs passing through suitable openings 33 and 34 formed in the inner 'frame 10. Light springs 35 surround the studs and are interposed between the plate 30 and the frame 10 and serve normally to hold said plate against the heads of the bobbins as shown in Fig. 2. Movement ci the plate when the adjacent guideway is empty of bobbins is llimited by stops` 36 which are carried by thc studs 31 and 32 respectively and engage the frame.

In order to control the position of the plate 30 I have struck therefrom an ear 37 which has formed thereon a cam slot 38 the lower end of which is fiared to receive pin 39 carried by slide 13. f It is to be understood that the bobbins of each guidevvay are to be acted upon by one of the plates 30 and therefore' each of the vertical slides 13 will be provided with a pin 39.

Under normal running conditions the butts of the bobbins will lie in the guideways defined between the flanges 12 and Will be pressed toward the outer plate 18 of the replenishing mechanism by means of plates 30 and spring 35. The stops 36 are primarily forthe purpose of holding the plates 30 in place so that they will not become dislodged when Vno bobbins are present and are not to be so placed as to interfere with the pressure of the said plates against the bobbins when holding the latter against the outer plate 18.l When indication of weft exhaustion is given the slide 13 corresponding to the indicating shuttle will be raised to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, causing the associated pin 39 to enter its correspondbins. Further downward motion of the pin yco takes it 'entirely from the slot, and the springs 35 are relied upon to hold the plate in position. It is to be understood that plate 30 is rigid throughout its length and that springs 35 are not strong enough to interfere with the withdrawal of the plate from bobbin engaging position by means of the pin and cam connection.

`'From the foregoing it will be seen that I haveprovided a very simple means to engage the heads of the bobbins and exert end pressure thereon to prevent rotation and it will further be seen that the pressure is applied in a direction lsubstantially parallel to the axes of the bobbins, in this way avoiding any mot-ion of the restraining means transversely of the bobbins. In this way the yarn surfaces of the bobbin are held in contact with each other and'no force is applied to the bobbins which would tend to disturb this contact. Also, the friction between the various bobbins is overcome positively, the

ysprings 35 being required merely to maintaln a position reached by stronger devices.

Having thus described my invention it will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be otherwise limited to the details herein disclosed but what I claim is:

In aweft replenishing mechanism for looms, a vertically movable slide under control of the replenishing mechanism, a guideway-for the bobbins, a plate forming an end wall for said guideway, means to` guide said plate toward and from'the bobbins. in a Vdirection substantially parallel'to the axes of the bobbins, yielding means .to hold said plate against the bobbins, an offset arm integral with the plate having a cam slot formed therein, and means carried by said slide to enter said slot and withdraw said plate from the bobb-ins against the action of said yielding means.

2. In a weftreplenishing mechanism for looms, a guideway forthe bobbin's, means defining an end wall for the guideway, means to move said wall positively toward and from bobbin engaging position, and yielding means normally independent ofthe positive means to Iholdsaid wall in bobbin engaging position. i`

3. In a-weft replenishing mechanism for looms, a vdevice' to exert end 'pressure on the bobbins, means to move said device positively into and out of'engagement with the bobbins, and yielding means normally independent of the positive means to hold said device in engagement with the bobbins.

4. In'a weft replenishing mechanism for looms, a guideway for the bobbins, a device forming part of said guideway to exert end pressure on thebobbins, means to move said device positively fromlthe bobbins, means to move said device positively toward the bobbins to act on said bobbins to move the same axially, and yielding means normally independent of the positive. means to hold said device against the bo'bbins after the `latter have beenV moved by said vsecond i named means. y

5. In a weft 'replenishing mechanism for looms, a guideway for the bobbins, a device j to exert end pressure on the bobbms and movable positively ,fromlthe' bobbins, means `to move said device positively toward and into engagement with the bobbins, `said means moving out of contact with the device after the latter vhas been moved toward` the bobbins, and yielding means normally independent of thepositive means to hold said device against the bobbins after the device has been positively moved toward the bobbins.

6. -In a weft replenishing mechanism for looms, a guideway for the bobbins, a device acting uponthe bobbins to exertend pressure thereon and movable toward the bobbins ina direction substantially parallel to the axes thereof, means acting positively tomove the device toward and from bobbin engaging position, and yielding means normally independent of the positive means to hold the device against the bobbins.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afixed my signature. 

